Adrian College men's hockey rebounds to earn series split

The NCAA Division III No. 5-ranked Adrian College men's hockey team was able to bounce back Sunday, defeating non-conference foe Wisconsin-Stevens Point 6-4 at Arrington Ice Arena.

Adrian (10-1) suffered its first loss of the season in the series opener against Stevens Point (8-5-1) on Saturday night.

Four third-period goals in Sunday's finale ensured a Bulldog victory.

"Any win is going to make you feel good," said Adrian coach Ron Fogarty. "We played much better today, and we played within our system. Yesterday, we were just awful in every sense of the word."

The animosity between the two teams from clear from the opening face-off. There were multiple collisions, hits and scraps between the teams, and the officials were forced to step in and break it up on more than one occasion. This led to a multitude of penalties for both teams, but the Bulldogs came out with the advantage, scoring on two power plays in the game.

The first period ended 0-0, but each team had near misses. The Bulldogs controlled the puck early on and kept the puck in the Stevens Point zone, but weren't able to capitalize. The Bulldogs nearly drew first blood at the 13-minute mark, but a fantastic save by Stevens Point goalie Nick Graves kept Adrian off the scoreboard. The Pointers had a chance of their own when a loose puck led a wild scramble in front of the Bulldogs net, but Adrian goalie James Hamby was able to cover it up.

The second period did not go nearly as well for the Bulldogs.

Adrian came out strong, taking five consecutive shots on goal, but couldn't find the back of the net. All Stevens Point needed was a single shot as a slick backhand from Andrew Kolb sent the puck zipping over Hamby's shoulder to give the Pointers a 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs began to play with more ferocity, leading to a trio of penalties during a scramble in front of the Pointers net. As soon as play resumed, the Pointers immediately took a 2-0 lead on Kyle Heck's goal.

The Bulldogs got to digging with Josh Ranalli leading the way.

Ranalli scored with 1:16 left in the period, jamming a rebound through Grave's leg pads and into the back of the net. Now down 2-1, the Bulldogs were given a golden opportunity when a Stevens Point penalty gave them a power play with 40 seconds remaining. Adrian wasted no time as Ranalli scored his second goal of the game and tied it at 2 as the period expired.

"It was a huge swing for us," Fogarty said. "We tied the game up. It's tough to be down 2-0 and make a comeback in the third. Those goals were the turning point in the game for us."

The Bulldogs held all the momentum as the third period began. Less than four minutes into the period, Josh Cousineau scored on a diving shot to put the Bulldogs up 3-2. Adrian's offense dominated the period and took a 4-2 lead after Shelby Gray took a beautiful pass from Shaquille Merasty and buried it in the net. A few minutes later Gray struck again, this time with assists from Cousineau and Zach Graham.

Stevens Point was able to sneak in a goal on a power play after pulling its goalie, giving the Pointers a 6-on-4 advantage. The Pointers pulled their goalie again, but the Bulldogs made them pay as Chris Leone found the empty net from the neutral zone. The Pointers were able to add a final goal, but it was too little, too late as the Bulldogs earned their 10th win of the season.

"That's the kind of performances we're grown to expect at Adrian," Fogarty said. "Anything less than a win is unacceptable. We played good tonight, but there are always things to tweak and areas to improve at."

Ranalli led the way for the Bulldogs, finishing with two goals and two assists. Cousineau had one goal and two assists, while Gray finished with two goals. Graham added three assists for the Bulldogs.

Adrian will travel to face NCAA Division I Alabama-Huntsville for a non-conference game on Friday.